Systems and methods for providing spatial awareness in virtual reality

ABSTRACT

In one embodiment, a method includes rendering, for a VR display device and based on a field of view of a user, a first output image of a VR environment comprising a virtual boundary corresponding to a real-world environment; determining, responsive to the user approaching within a first threshold distance of the virtual boundary, a speed of movement and the field of view of the user; accessing one or more images of the real-world environment captured by one or more cameras of the VR display device; and rendering, for the VR display device, a second output image comprising a portion of the VR environment and a portion of a passthrough view of the real-world environment based on the accessed images, where an area of the portion of the passthrough view is based on the determined speed of movement and the field of view of the user.

PRIORITY

This application is a continuation under 35 U.S.C. § 120 of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 17/139,434, filed 31 Dec. 2020, which isincorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure generally relates to databases and file managementwithin network environments, and in particular relates to determiningspatial awareness in a virtual reality (VR) setting.

BACKGROUND

Traditional methods of spatial awareness in VR settings require a userto define a boundary wall that represents the outer bounds of a safeboundary perimeter for the user to move around in. For example, the usercan draw a line on the floor in a room as the boundary (e.g., for aroom-scale VR setting) or have a computer system automatically defininga circular perimeter centered on a stationary sitting or standing user(e.g., for a stationary VR setting). As the user or the user's handsapproaches the boundary, a virtual wall can appear to alert the userthey are approaching the boundary. For room-scale VR users, the user mayhave a small room where the virtual wall constantly appears, frustratingthe user experience and breaking the VR immersion. For stationary VRusers, the user may constantly see the virtual wall as their head and/orhands move, causing some users to feel enclosed and claustrophobic.Further, in some situations, like if the user is move backwards out ofthe boundary, the virtual wall may not appear within the user's field ofview until it is too late, risking injury to the user if they are movingtoo quickly.

SUMMARY OF PARTICULAR EMBODIMENTS

In particular embodiments, a user of an immersive VR system may havetheir view of the real-world environment partially or fully occluded bythe VR system, and thus risk running into or hitting real-world objectswhile immersed in a VR environment. Additionally, immersion in the VRenvironment may disorient the user as to their position and/ororientation in the real-world environment. That is, the user may forgetwhere they were standing, or where furniture or other objects in theirvicinity are. Thus, one technical challenge may include maintaining animmersive VR experience while also conveying spatial information aboutthe real-world environment to a user immersed in the VR experience.Traditional methods of keeping the user safe and helping the user orientthemselves in a VR environment include drawing of a virtual boundary,which may be a line drawn by a user that defines a safe zone for theuser while they are in the VR experience. As the user approaches theboundary, a virtual boundary wall may appear or activate. The system canuse the virtual boundary wall to alert the user where the virtualboundary is. For example, these virtual boundary walls may havegrid-like appearances corresponding to the line drawn by the userdefining the virtual boundary. But these boundary walls can disrupt theimmersion while in the VR environment, detracting from the user'sexperience. One solution presented by the embodiments disclosed hereinto address the technical challenge of conveying spatial informationabout the real-world to the user may be to provide a “directional”passthrough view of the real-world environment within the VR environmentas the user approaches the virtual boundary. The passthrough view may beconsidered “directional” in that the area and position of thepassthrough view may be based on the user's relative movement and fieldof view in the VR environment. While in the directional passthroughview, the user can see where the virtual boundary (e.g., the virtualline drawn by the user) is, to help the user stay in the safe zone. Atechnical advantage of the embodiments may include providing the pose(e.g., position and orientation) of the user in the real-worldenvironment, and providing spatial information by showing the user aquick glimpse of the real-world environment while maintaining the VRexperience, providing the user with visual information that can help theuser avoid objects outside of the boundary as well as help the userreorient themselves in the real-world environment. As an example and notby way of limitation, a user walking forward may be approaching a deskthat lies outside of the virtual boundary. Without fully breaking the VRimmersion, a portion of the user's field of view may transition from arendering of the VR environment to a rendering of a directionalpassthrough view of the real-world environment (and accordingly, thedesk that lies in the user's path) to help the user avoid running intothe desk and to help the user reorient themselves in the middle of theVR boundary. Although this disclosure describes a method of providingspatial awareness in a VR setting using directional passthrough, thisdisclosure contemplates providing spatial awareness in a VR setting inany suitable manner.

In particular embodiments, one or more computing systems may render, forone or more displays of a VR display device, a first output image of aVR environment based on a field of view of a user. The VR environmentcan comprise a virtual boundary corresponding to a real-worldenvironment. The one or more computing systems can determine whether theuser is approaching within a first threshold distance of the virtualboundary. The one or more computing systems can determine, responsive tothe user approaching within the first threshold distance of the virtualboundary, a direction of movement and the field of view of the user. Theone or more computing systems can access one or more images of thereal-world environment captured by one or more cameras of the VR displaydevice The one or more computing systems can render, for the one or moredisplays of the VR display device, a second output image comprising aportion of the VR environment and a portion of a passthrough view of thereal-world environment based on the accessed images. The portion of thepassthrough view may be based on the determined direction of movementand the field of view of the user.

Certain technical challenges exist for determining spatial awareness ina VR setting. One technical challenge may include conveying spatialinformation about the real-world environment and objects within thereal-world environment to a user while the user is immersed in a VRexperience. The solution presented by the embodiments disclosed hereinto address this challenge may be to provide a quick glimpse via adirectional passthrough view to the real-world environment so the usercan ascertain where they are in the real-world environment. Anothertechnical challenge may include maintaining the immersion of the VRexperience while also providing the user with the necessary visualinformation to orient themselves in the virtual boundary. The solutionpresented by the embodiments disclosed herein to address this challengemay be to render an opaque, translucent, or otherwise outlined renderingof a real-world object in the VR environment which can alert the user tothe presence of the real-world object, without significantlyinterrupting the VR experience.

Certain embodiments disclosed herein may provide one or more technicaladvantages. A technical advantage of the embodiments may includeproviding spatial information by providing quick glimpse of thereal-world environment through directional passthrough views of thereal-world environment while immersed in the VR environment, orproviding outline renderings of real-world objects in the VR environmentto alert the user of objects that may lie in their path withoutsignificantly disrupting the immersion of the VR experience. Anothertechnical advantage of the embodiments may include providing spatialinformation by determining the optimal direction for the directionalpassthrough view, regardless of which direction the user is moving.Certain embodiments disclosed herein may provide none, some, or all ofthe above technical advantages. One or more other technical advantagesmay be readily apparent to one skilled in the art in view of thefigures, descriptions, and claims of the present disclosure.

The embodiments disclosed herein are only examples, and the scope ofthis disclosure is not limited to them. Particular embodiments mayinclude all, some, or none of the components, elements, features,functions, operations, or steps of the embodiments disclosed herein.Embodiments according to the invention are in particular disclosed inthe attached claims directed to a method, a storage medium, a system anda computer program product, wherein any feature mentioned in one claimcategory, e.g. method, may be claimed in another claim category, e.g.system, as well. The dependencies or references back in the attachedclaims are chosen for formal reasons only. However any subject matterresulting from a deliberate reference back to any previous claims (inparticular multiple dependencies) may be claimed as well, so that anycombination of claims and the features thereof are disclosed and may beclaimed regardless of the dependencies chosen in the attached claims.The subject-matter which may be claimed comprises not only thecombinations of features as set out in the attached claims but also anyother combination of features in the claims, wherein each featurementioned in the claims may be combined with any other feature orcombination of other features in the claims. Furthermore, any of theembodiments and features described or depicted herein may be claimed ina separate claim and/or in any combination with any embodiment orfeature described or depicted herein or with any of the features of theattached claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A illustrates an example artificial reality system worn by a user,in accordance with particular embodiments.

FIG. 1B illustrates an example of a passthrough feature, in accordancewith particular embodiments.

FIG. 1C illustrates a virtual reality system within a real-worldenvironment.

FIG. 1D illustrates a perspective view of a passthrough view of thereal-world environment within the virtual reality environment.

FIGS. 2A-2D illustrate top-down views of passthrough views of thereal-world environment within the virtual reality environment.

FIGS. 3A-3D illustrates sample perspective views of the passthrough viewof the real-world environment within the virtual reality environment,without an adjustment for the field of view.

FIGS. 4A-4D illustrates sample perspective views of the passthrough viewof the real-world environment within the virtual reality environment,with an adjustment for the field of view.

FIG. 5A illustrates a sample perspective view of a compensation for theadjustment of the field of view.

FIGS. 5B-5C are graphs illustrating the percent compensation oftransitions into passthrough views.

FIG. 6 illustrates a sample diagrammatic view of a user's vision.

FIG. 7 illustrates a perspective view of the user in a boundary space.

FIG. 8 illustrates a perspective view of an outline rendering view of areal-world object in the virtual reality environment.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example method for determining spatial awarenessin a VR setting using a passthrough view.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example network environment associated with a VRor social-networking system.

FIG. 11 illustrates an example computer system.

DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS

In particular embodiments, a user of an immersive VR system (e.g.,head-mounted VR goggles) may have their view of the real-worldenvironment partially or fully occluded by the VR system, and thus riskrunning into or hitting real-world objects while immersed in a VRenvironment. Additionally, immersion in the VR environment may disorientthe user as to their position and/or orientation in the real-worldenvironment. That is, the user may forget where they were standing, orwhere furniture or other objects in their vicinity are. Thus, onetechnical challenge may include maintaining an immersive VR experiencewhile also conveying spatial information about the real-worldenvironment to a user immersed in the VR experience. Traditional methodsof keeping the user safe and helping the user orient themselves in a VRenvironment include drawing of a virtual boundary, which may be a linedrawn by a user that defines a safe zone for the user while they are inthe VR experience. As the user approaches the boundary, a virtualboundary wall may appear or activate. The system can use the virtualboundary wall to alert the user where the virtual boundary is. Forexample, these virtual boundary walls may have grid-like appearancescorresponding to the line drawn by the user defining the virtualboundary. But these boundary walls can disrupt the immersion while inthe VR environment, detracting from the user's experience. One solutionpresented by the embodiments disclosed herein to address the technicalchallenge of conveying spatial information about the real-world to theuser may be to provide a “directional” passthrough view of thereal-world environment within the VR environment as the user approachesthe virtual boundary. The passthrough view may be considered“directional” in that the area and position of the passthrough view maybe based on the user's relative movement and field of view in the VRenvironment. While in the directional passthrough view, the user can seewhere the virtual boundary (e.g., the virtual line drawn by the user)is, to help the user stay in the safe zone. A technical advantage of theembodiments may include providing the pose (e.g., position andorientation) of the user in the real-world environment, and providingspatial information by showing the user a quick glimpse of thereal-world environment while maintaining the VR experience, providingthe user with visual information that can help the user avoid objectsoutside of the boundary as well as help the user reorient themselves inthe real-world environment. As an example and not by way of limitation,a user walking forward may be approaching a desk that lies outside ofthe virtual boundary. Without fully breaking the VR immersion, a portionof the user's field of view may transition from a rendering of the VRenvironment to a rendering of a directional passthrough view of thereal-world environment (and accordingly, the desk that lies in theuser's path) to help the user avoid running into the desk and to helpthe user reorient themselves in the middle of the VR boundary. Althoughthis disclosure describes a method of providing spatial awareness in aVR setting using directional passthrough, this disclosure contemplatesproviding spatial awareness in a VR setting in any suitable manner.

FIG. 1A illustrates an example of a virtual reality system 50 worn by auser 102. In particular embodiments, the virtual reality system 50 maycomprise a head-mounted VR display device 135, a controller 106, and acomputing system 110. The VR display device 135 may be worn over theuser's eyes and provide visual content to the user 102 through internaldisplays (not shown). The VR display device 135 may have two separateinternal displays, one for each eye of the user 102 (single displaydevices are also possible). As illustrated in FIG. 1A, the VR displaydevice 135 may completely cover the user's field of view. By being theexclusive provider of visual information to the user 102, the VR displaydevice 135 achieves the goal of providing an immersiveartificial-reality experience. One consequence of this, however, is thatthe user 102 may not be able to see the physical (real-world)environment surrounding him, as his vision is shielded by the VR displaydevice 135. As such, the passthrough feature described herein may betechnically advantageous for providing the user with real-time visualinformation about his physical surroundings.

FIG. 1B illustrates an example of the passthrough feature. A user 102may be wearing a VR display device 135, immersed within a virtualreality environment. A real-world object 145 is in the physicalenvironment surrounding the user 102. However, due to the VR displaydevice 135 blocking the vision of the user 102, the user 102 is unableto directly see the real-world object 145. To help the user perceive hisphysical surroundings while wearing the VR display device 135, thepassthrough feature captures information about the physical environmentusing, for example, the aforementioned external-facing cameras 105A-B.The captured information may then be re-projected to the user 102 basedon his viewpoints. In particular embodiments where the VR display device135 has a right display 136A for the user's right eye and a left display136B for the user's left eye, the virtual reality system 50 mayindividually render (1) a re-projected view 145A of the physicalenvironment for the right display 135A based on a viewpoint of theuser's right eye and (2) a re-projected view 145B of the physicalenvironment for the left display 135B based on a viewpoint of the user'sleft eye.

Referring again to FIG. 1A, the VR display device 135 may haveexternal-facing cameras, such as the two forward-facing cameras 105A and105B shown in FIG. 1A. While only two forward-facing cameras 105A-B areshown, the VR display device 135 may have any number of cameras facingany direction (e.g., an upward-facing camera to capture the ceiling orroom lighting, a downward-facing camera to capture a portion of theuser's face and/or body, a backward-facing camera to capture a portionof what's behind the user, and/or an internal camera for capturing theuser's eye gaze for eye-tracking purposes). The external-facing camerasmay be configured to capture the physical environment around the userand may do so continuously to generate a sequence of frames (e.g., as avideo). As previously explained, although images captured by theforward-facing cameras 105A-B may be directly displayed to the user 102via the VR display device 135, doing so may not provide the user with anaccurate view of the physical environment since the cameras 105A-Bcannot physically be located at the exact same location as the user'seyes. As such, the passthrough feature described herein may use are-projection technique that generates a 3D representation of thephysical environment and then renders images based on the 3Drepresentation from the viewpoints of the user's eyes.

The 3D representation may be generated based on depth measurements ofphysical objects observed by the cameras 105A-B. Depth may be measuredin a variety of ways. In particular embodiments, depth may be computedbased on stereo images. For example, the two forward-facing cameras105A-B may share an overlapping field of view and be configured tocapture images simultaneously. As a result, the same physical object maybe captured by both cameras 105A-B at the same time. For example, aparticular feature of an object may appear at one pixel p_(A) in theimage captured by camera 105A, and the same feature may appear atanother pixel p_(B) in the image captured by camera 105B. As long as thedepth measurement system knows that the two pixels correspond to thesame feature, the virtual reality system 50 could use triangulationtechniques to compute the depth of the observed feature. For example,based on the camera 105A's position within a 3D space and the pixellocation of p_(A) relative to the camera 105A's field of view, a linecould be projected from the camera 105A and through the pixel p_(A). Asimilar line could be projected from the other camera 105B and throughthe pixel p_(B). Since both pixels are supposed to correspond to thesame physical feature, the two lines should intersect. The twointersecting lines and an imaginary line drawn between the two cameras105A and 105B form a triangle, which could be used to compute thedistance of the observed feature from either camera 105A or 105B or apoint in space where the observed feature is located.

In particular embodiments, the pose (e.g., position and orientation) ofthe VR display device 135 within the environment may be needed. Forexample, in order to render the appropriate display for the user 102while he is moving about in a virtual environment, the virtual realitysystem 50 may need to determine his position and orientation at anymoment. Based on the pose of the VR display device, the virtual realitysystem 50 may further determine the viewpoint of either of the cameras105A and 105B or either of the user's eyes. In particular embodiments,the VR display device 135 may be equipped with inertial-measurementunits (“IMU”). The data generated by the IMU, along with the stereoimagery captured by the external-facing cameras 105A-B, allow thevirtual reality system 50 to compute the pose of the VR display device135 using, for example, SLAM (simultaneous localization and mapping) orother suitable techniques.

In particular embodiments, the virtual reality system 50 may furtherhave one or more controllers 106 that enable the user 102 to provideinputs. The controller 106 may communicate with the VR display device135 or a separate computing system 110 via a wireless or wiredconnection. The controller 106 may have any number of buttons or othermechanical input mechanisms. In addition, the controller 106 may have anIMU so that the pose of the controller 106 may be tracked. Thecontroller 106 may further be tracked based on predetermined patterns onthe controller. For example, the controller 106 may have severalinfrared LEDs or other known observable features that collectively forma predetermined pattern. Using a sensor or camera, the virtual realitysystem 50 may be able to capture an image of the predetermined patternon the controller. Based on the observed orientation of those patterns,the system may compute the controller's position and orientationrelative to the sensor or camera.

The virtual reality system 50 may further include a computing system110. The computing system 110 may be a stand-alone unit that isphysically separate from the VR display device 135 or the computersystem 110 may be integrated with the VR display device 135. Inembodiments where the computing system 110 is a separate unit, thecomputing system 110 may be communicatively coupled to the VR displaydevice 135 via a wireless or wired link. The computing system 110 may bea high-performance device, such as a desktop or laptop, or aresource-limited device, such as a mobile phone. A high-performancedevice may have a dedicated GPU and a high-capacity or constant powersource. A resource-limited device, on the other hand, may not have a GPUand may have limited battery capacity. As such, the algorithms thatcould be practically used by a virtual reality system 50 depends on thecapabilities of its computing system 110.

In embodiments where the computing system 110 is a high-performancedevice, an embodiment of the passthrough feature may be designed asfollows. Through the external-facing cameras 105A-B of the VR displaydevice 135, a sequence of images of the surrounding physical environmentmay be captured. The information captured by the cameras 105A-B,however, may be misaligned with what the user's eyes may capture sincethe cameras could not spatially coincide with the user's eyes (e.g., thecameras may be located some distance away from the user's eyes and,consequently, have different viewpoints). As such, simply displayingwhat the cameras captured to the user may not be an accuraterepresentation of what the user should perceive.

Instead of simply displaying what was captured, the passthrough featuremay re-project information captured by the external-facing cameras105A-B to the user. Each pair of simultaneously captured stereo imagesmay be used to estimate the depths of observed features. As explainedabove, to measure depth using triangulation, the computing system 110may find correspondences between the stereo images. For example, thecomputing system 110 may determine which two pixels in the pair ofstereo images correspond to the same observed feature. Ahigh-performance computing system 110 may solve the correspondenceproblem using its GPU and optical flow techniques, which are optimizedfor such tasks. The correspondence information may then be used tocompute depths using triangulation techniques. Based on the computeddepths of the observed features, the computing system 110 coulddetermine where those features are located within a 3D space (since thecomputing system 110 also knows where the cameras are in that 3D space).The result may be represented by a dense 3D point cloud, with each pointcorresponding to an observed feature. The dense point cloud may then beused to generate 3D models of objects in the environment. When thesystem renders a scene for display, the system could perform visibilitytests from the perspectives of the user's eyes. For example, the systemmay cast rays into the 3D space from a viewpoint that corresponds toeach eye of the user. In this manner, the rendered scene that isdisplayed to the user may be computed from the perspective of the user'seyes, rather than from the perspective of the external-facing cameras105A-B.

The process described above, however, may not be feasible for aresource-limited computing unit (e.g., a mobile phone may be the maincomputational unit for the VR display device). For example, unlikesystems with powerful computational resources and ample energy sources,a mobile phone cannot rely on GPUs and computationally-expensivealgorithms (e.g., optical flow) to perform depth measurements andgenerate an accurate 3D model of the environment. Thus, to providepassthrough on resource-limited devices, an optimized process is needed.

In particular embodiments, the computing device may be configured todynamically determine, at runtime, whether it is capable of or able togenerate depth measurements using (1) the GPU and optical flow or (2)the optimized technique using video encoder and motion vectors, asdescribed in further detail below. For example, if the device has a GPUand sufficient power budget (e.g., it is plugged into a power source,has a full battery, etc.), it may perform depth measurements using itsGPU and optical flow. However, if the device does not have a GPU or hasa stringent power budget, then it may opt for the optimized method forcomputing depths.

FIG. 1C illustrates a virtual reality system 50 within a real-worldenvironment 100. Within the real-world environment 100 may be a camera105 (e.g., one or more cameras, front facing cameras on an AR/VRheadset, etc.). The camera 105 may be connected to a computing system110. The camera 105 may be worn by a user (e.g., as part of a VRheadset). The camera 105 may be connected to a VR display device 135 (inparticular embodiments, the camera 105 and the VR display device 135 maybe separate). In particular embodiments, the computing system 110 mayrender, for one or more displays of the VR display device 135, a firstoutput image of the VR environment 140 based on a field of view 120 of auser. The VR environment 140 may have a virtual boundary 115corresponding to the real-world environment 100. The VR environment 140may be a VR game, VR office, or other VR setting that is displayed inthe field of view 120 of the user. The virtual boundary 115 may defineor mark the edge of a safe area for the user to explore while the useris immersed in the VR environment 140. For example, in a room-scale VRenvironment (where the user can walk around a room during the VRexperience) the virtual boundary 115 may correspond to real-worldobjects 145 (e.g., sofas, chairs, tables, walls, impediments, etc.) thatthe user wearing the VR display device 135 may like to avoid whileimmersed in the VR experience. As another example, in a stationary VRsetting (e.g., when the user is standing or sitting in a spot withouttraversing), the virtual boundary 115 may correspond to real-worldobjects at or just beyond arm's reach of the user (e.g., a 1 meterradius around the user). The virtual boundary 115 may be drawn by theuser (e.g., by having the user manually draw the virtual boundary 115using the controller 106), automatically determined (e.g., an imageprocessor may determine a safe boundary and automatically determines theboundary wall), or semi-automatically determined (e.g., an imageprocessor may determine or suggest a safe boundary and the boundary wall115, and the user may manually augment or edit the determined boundarywall 115). Although this disclosure describes using a particular virtualreality system in a particular real-world environment, this disclosurecontemplates using any suitable virtual reality system in any suitablereal-world environment.

In particular embodiments, the computing system 110 may determinewhether the user is approaching within a first threshold distance of thevirtual boundary 115. The computing system 110 may determine whether theuser is approaching within a first threshold distance of the virtualboundary 115 using sensors, accelerometers, gyroscopes, or otherposition sensors of the camera 105 and/or the VR display device 135. Thefirst threshold distance may be a predetermined distance (e.g., 1, 5,10, etc. meters) from the virtual boundary 115. The first thresholddistance may be determined by the user as well. As an example and not byway of limitation, in a room-scale VR setting, the computing system 110may determine whether the user is approaching within a pre-determineddistance of the virtual boundary 115. As another example and not by wayof limitation, in a stationary VR setting, the first threshold distancemay be when the user's head or hands approach the edge of thepredetermined radius around the user (e.g., when the user's head orhands approaches a pre-determined 1 meter radius). Although thisdisclosure describes determining whether the user is approaching withina particular threshold distance of the virtual boundary in a particularmanner, this disclosure contemplates determining whether the user isapproaching within any suitable threshold distance of the virtualboundary in any suitable manner.

FIG. 1D illustrates a perspective view of a passthrough view 130 of thereal-world environment 100 within the VR environment 140. The VRenvironment 140 may be rendered within the real-world environment 100.As a user approaches a virtual boundary, a portion of the passthroughview 130 can appear to show the user a real-world object that the usermay risk running into (e.g., the real-world object 145). Thus, as theuser gets close to the virtual boundary, a portion of the rendering ofthe VR environment 140 may transition to appear as a rendering showingthe portion of the passthrough view 130. The portion of the passthroughview 130 can show the user the real-world environment 100, which mayhave the real-world object in the user's path, to prevent the user fromrisk of injury by showing the user the real-world object that may liebeyond the virtual boundary if the user continues along their path. Therendering as shown in FIG. 1D may be presented to the user through theVR display device 135 shown in FIG. 1B. That is, the portion of thepassthrough view 130 may be used to capture information about thereal-world object 145 in the real-world environment 100 and re-projectedto the user.

FIGS. 2A-2D illustrate top-down views of passthrough views 130 of thereal-world environment 100 within the VR environment 140. In particularembodiments, the computing system 110 may determine, responsive to theuser approaching within the first threshold distance of the virtualboundary 115, a direction of movement 125 and the field of view 120 ofthe user. The computing system 110 may determine the direction ofmovement 125 and the field of view 120 of the user using sensors,accelerometers, gyroscopes, or other position sensors of the camera 105and/or the VR display device 135 to determine the motion and orientationof the user wearing the camera 105 and/or the VR display device 135. Asan example and not by way of limitation, sensors may determine the useris moving forward (e.g., in the direction of movement 125 a) along thesame direction as their field of view 120 (FIG. 2A). As another exampleand not by way of limitation, sensors may determine the user is movingbackward (e.g., in the direction of movement 125 b) in the oppositedirection as their field of view 120 (FIG. 2B). As another example andnot by way of limitation, sensors may determine the user is movingsideways to the left (e.g., in the direction of movement 125 c) andperpendicular to their field of view 120 (FIG. 2C). As another exampleand not by way of limitation, sensors may determine the user is movingsideways to the right (e.g., in the direction of movement 125 d) andperpendicular to their field of view 120 (FIG. 2D). Although thisdisclosure describes determining the direction of movement and the fieldof view of the user, this disclosure contemplates determining adirection of movement and the field of view of the user in any suitablemanner.

In particular embodiments, the computing system 110 may access one ormore images of the real-world environment 100 captured by one or morecameras 105 of the VR display device 135. The computing system 110 mayaccess one or more images of the real-world environment 100 by capturingan image (e.g., by taking a picture or snapshot) of the user'sreal-world environment 100 using the camera 105. This captured image maybe a partial picture of the real-world environment 100 (e.g., the cameraonly captures the image of a desired orientation such as the user'sfield of view or the peripheral views) or a full picture of thereal-world environment 100 (e.g., the camera captures a full 360 degreeimage of the user's entire real-world surroundings). Although thisdisclosure describes accessing one or more images of the real-worldenvironment in a particular manner, this disclosure contemplatesaccessing one or more images of the real-world environment in anysuitable manner.

In particular embodiments, the computing system 110 may render, for theone or more displays of the VR display device 135, a second output imagecomprising a portion of the VR environment 140 and a portion of apassthrough view 130 of the real-world environment 100 based on theaccessed images. The portion of the passthrough view 130 may be based onthe determined direction of movement 125 and the field of view 120 ofthe user. The passthrough view 130 nay provide the user a view of thereal-world environment 100 beyond the VR environment 140 as the userapproaches the virtual boundary 115, without drastically breaking theimmersion of the VR environment. That is, as the user approaches thevirtual boundary 115, the directional passthrough view 130 may bedisplayed on the VR display device 135 to give the user a sense of thedirection the user is moving in the real-world environment 100, whilemaintaining the VR environment 140 everywhere else. Thus, the computingsystem may provide a solution to the technical challenge of conveyingspatial information about the real-world environment 100 and real-worldobjects 145 within the real-world environment 100 to a user while theuser is immersed in a VR experience in the VR environment 140. Thesolution presented herein may address this challenge by providing aquick glimpse via the portion of the directional passthrough view 130 tothe real-world environment 100 so the user may ascertain where they arein the real-world environment 100. This may have the advantage ofhelping the user avoid objects they may run into if they continue alongtheir trajectory or path, and also help the user orient themselves inthe real-world environment 100. For example, the user may repositionthemselves in the center of the virtual boundary 115 after viewing thedirectional passthrough view 130. As an example and not by way oflimitation, and with reference to FIG. 2A, if the user is moving forward(e.g., in the direction of movement 125 a) along the same direction astheir field of view 120, the VR display device 135 may display the VRenvironment 140 and the portion of the passthrough view 130 a that isdirectly in front of the user, while maintaining the VR environment 140everywhere else. As another example and not by way of limitation, andwith reference to FIG. 2B, if the user is moving backward (e.g., in thedirection of movement 125 b) in the opposite direction as their field ofview 120, the VR display device 135 may display the VR environment 140and the portion of the passthrough view 130 b that covers the user'speripheral view and behind the user, while maintaining the VRenvironment 140 everywhere else. As another example and not by way oflimitation, and with reference to FIG. 2C, if the user is movingsideways to the left (e.g., in the direction of movement 125 c) andperpendicular to their field of view 120, the VR display device 135 maydisplay the VR environment 140 and the portion of the passthrough view130 c that covers the user's peripheral view to the left, whilemaintaining the VR environment 140 everywhere else. As another exampleand not by way of limitation, and with reference to FIG. 2D, if the useris moving sideways to the right (e.g., in the direction of movement 125d) and perpendicular to their field of view 120, the VR display device135 may display the VR environment 140 and the portion of thepassthrough view 130 d that covers the user's peripheral view to theright, while maintaining the VR environment 140 everywhere else. Thus,the computing system 110 can render the passthrough view 130 to alertthe user to objects in their path, and to help the user orientthemselves in the room. Thus, the embodiments may include the technicaladvantage of providing spatial information by providing quick glimpse ofthe real-world environment through directional passthrough views of thereal-world environment while immersed in the VR environment. Althoughthis disclosure describes rendering a particular output image in aparticular manner, this disclosure contemplates rendering any suitableoutput image in any suitable manner.

FIGS. 3A-3D illustrates sample perspective views of the portion of thepassthrough view 130 of the real-world environment 100 within the VRenvironment 140, without adjustments for the field of view 120. FIGS.4A-4D illustrates sample perspective views of the portion of thepassthrough view 130 of the real-world environment 100 within the VRenvironment 140, with adjustments for the field of view 120. The portionof the passthrough view 130 may be adjusted to be able to consistentlynotify the user when the user strays from the center of the virtualboundary, or when the user approaches the virtual boundary from anydirection. This may be accomplished by increasing the size of the arc orarea of the portion of the passthrough view 130 to ensure at least partof the portion of the passthrough view 130 is always within the field ofview 120. This can provide the technical advantage of providing spatialinformation by determining the optimal direction for the directionalpassthrough view, regardless of which direction the user is moving. Asan example and not by way of limitation, with reference to FIG. 3A, ifthe user is moving forward with the movement of direction 125 that isalong the same direction as their field of view 120, the portion of thepassthrough view 130 lies fully within the field of view 120, and thusmay not need any adjustment. Therefore, with reference to FIG. 4A, theremay be no adjustment of the portion of the passthrough view 130. Asanother example and not by way of limitation, with reference to FIG. 3B,if the user is moving with the movement of direction 125 that is angledaway from their field of view 120, the portion of the passthrough view130 and the field of view 120 do not completely overlap, and thus theportion of the passthrough view 130 may need adjustment. Therefore, withreference to FIG. 4B, there may be an adjustment to increase the portionof the portion of the passthrough view 130. For example, if the overlapof the field of view 120 and the portion of the passthrough view was 5degrees (as in FIG. 3B), then the size of the portion of the passthroughview 130 may be increased by 30 degrees so that the overlap of the fieldof view 120 and the portion of the passthrough view 130 may be increasedto 20 degrees (as in FIG. 4B). As another example and not by way oflimitation, with reference to FIG. 3C, if the user is moving with themovement of direction 125 that is perpendicular to their field of view120, the portion of the passthrough view 130 and the field of view 120may not overlap at all, and thus the portion of the passthrough view 130may need adjustment. Therefore, with reference to FIG. 4C, there may bean adjustment to increase the portion of the portion of the passthroughview 130. For example, if the overlap of the field of view 120 and theportion of the passthrough view was 0 degrees (as in FIG. 3C), then thesize of the portion of the passthrough view 130 may be increased by 32degrees so that the overlap of the field of view 120 and the portion ofthe passthrough view 130 may be increased to 15 degrees (as in FIG. 4C).As another example and not by way of limitation, with reference to FIG.3D, if the user is moving with the movement of direction 125 that isopposite to their field of view 120, the portion of the passthrough view130 and the field of view 120 may not overlap at all, and thus theportion of the passthrough view 130 may need adjustment. Therefore, withreference to FIG. 4D, there may be an adjustment to increase the portionof the portion of the passthrough view 130. For example, if the overlapof the field of view 120 and the portion of the passthrough view was 0degrees (as in FIG. 3D), then the size of the portion of the passthroughview 130 may be increased by 190 degrees so that the overlap of thefield of view 120 and the portion of the passthrough view 130 may beincreased to 15 degrees (as in FIG. 4D). With the above field of viewadjustments to the portion of the passthrough view 130, the computingsystem 110 may render the passthrough view 130 which can alert the userto objects in their path, and to help the user orient themselves in theroom.

FIG. 5A illustrates a sample perspective view of a compensation 160 forthe adjustment of the field of view 120. The direction of the field ofview 120 may be represented by a forward vector 165. The direction ofthe user from the center of the virtual boundary 115 (not shown) may berepresented by a direction vector 155. Based on the forward vector 165and the direction vector 155, a compensation 160 may be determined toadjust the portion of the passthrough view 130. For example, as theangle between the forward vector 165 and the direction vector 155increases (e.g., as the angle of the arc 170 decreases), thecompensation 160 may increase as well. The compensation 160 is the anglethat the direction vector 155 may need to rotate to reach the field ofview 120, e.g., to ensure at least some of the portion of thepassthrough view 130 lies within the field of view 120. The increase ofthe compensation 160 may be proportional to the decrease of the arc 170.

FIGS. 5B-5C are graphs illustrating the percent compensation oftransitions into passthrough views. The x-axis represents the distancebetween the portion of the passthrough view and the field of view, withx=0 representing the portion of the passthrough view and the field ofview are just not overlapping, and x=1 representing the portion of thepassthrough view and the field of view are in opposite directions (e.g.,the portion of the passthrough view points away from the field of view).The y-axis represents the percent compensation for the portion of thepassthrough view. As shown by a percent compensation line 161 in FIG.5B, once the user's direction of movement is out of the user's field ofview (e.g., once the percent compensation line 161 crosses the y-axis),the compensation for the passthrough begins. As the sudden transitioninto the portion of the passthrough view may be very noticeable, thesudden transition may disrupt or distract from the VR experience. Asshown by a percent compensation line 162 in FIG. 5C, the transition intopassthrough view may be more gradual. The compensation for thepassthrough view can gradually begin even before the user's direction ofmovement is out of the user's field of view (e.g., before the percentcompensation line 162 crosses the y-axis), thus smoothing the transitioninto passthrough view. An advantage of having a smoothed transition intopassthrough view includes having a less disruptive and more gradualintroduction of the passthrough view, which may make it less noticeableto determine when the compensation starts and ends. Additionally, as thecurve approaches x=1 (e.g., when the portion of the passthrough view andthe field of view are in opposite directions), the compensation mayincrease the passthrough view to all sides of the user's vision, asseeing the passthrough view on all sides of the user's periphery maymake it easier to notice objects and obstructions than just showing thepassthrough view on one side.

In particular embodiments, referring again to FIGS. 2A-2D, 3A-3D, and4A-4D, the computing system 110 may determine a speed of the movement ofthe user. An area (e.g., the size) of the portion of the passthroughview 130 may be based on the determined speed of the user. The portionof the passthrough view 130 may be a spherical cap of a spherical secondoutput image (e.g., the portion of the passthrough view is a portion ofa spherical surface, where the spherical surface corresponds to the a VRenvironment that is rendered on a “spherical dome” around the user). Ifthe user is moving at faster speeds, then the area of the portion of thepassthrough view 130 may be relatively larger for a faster determinedspeed of the movement of the user than it may be for a user moving at aslower determined speed. As such, the portion of the passthrough viewmay take up a larger area of the output image displayed by the VRdisplay device 135. If the user is moving at slower speeds, then thearea of the portion of the passthrough view 130 may be relativelysmaller for a slower determined speed of the movement of the user thanit may be for a user moving at a faster determined speed. As such, theportion of the passthrough view may take up a smaller area of the outputimage displayed by the VR display device 135. If the output image isrendered as a spherical dome around the user, then the portion of the VRpassthrough view may be a spherical cap in the spherical dome. However,the portion of the passthrough view 130 may be any shape (e.g., theshape is not limited to a circular view for the portion of thepassthrough view 130). As an example and not by way of limitation, ifthe user is walking at a fast pace toward the virtual boundary 115, theportion of the passthrough view 130 may appear be relatively larger thanin it may be if the user walked toward the virtual boundary 115 at aslower pace. Conversely, if the user is walking slowly toward thevirtual boundary 115, the portion of the passthrough view 130 may appearto be relatively smaller than it may be if the user walked toward thevirtual boundary 115 at a faster pace. Although this disclosuredescribes determining a speed of the movement of the user in aparticular manner, this disclosure contemplates determining a speed ofthe movement of the user in any suitable manner.

In particular embodiments, a sharpness of a transition from the VRenvironment 140 to the portion of the passthrough view 130 may be basedon the determined speed of the movement of the user. The transition maybe a fade, blur, or other form of visual interruption or transition fromthe VR environment 140 into the portion of the passthrough view 130.That is, when the transition from the VR environment 140 to the portionof the passthrough view 130 may involve fading or blurring the edgeswhere the VR environment 140 and the portion of the passthrough view 130meet. The sharpness of the transition from the VR environment 140 to theportion of the passthrough view 130 may be relatively sharper for afaster determined speed of the movement of the user, and the sharpnessof the transition from the VR environment 140 to the portion of thepassthrough view 130 may be relatively less sharp for a slowerdetermined speed of the movement of the user. As an example and not byway of limitation, if the user is walking quickly toward the virtualboundary 115, there will be less fade or blur from the VR environment140 to the portion of the passthrough view 130 (the transition from theVR environment 140 to the portion of the passthrough view 130 will berelatively sharper). This may allow the user to quickly assess obstaclesthat may be in the user's path, as faster user movement could increasethe likelihood or risk of tripping over or running into an object.Conversely, if the user is walking slowly toward the virtual boundary115, there will be more fade or blur from the virtual environment 140 tothe portion of the passthrough view 130 (the transition from the VRenvironment 140 to the portion of the passthrough view 130 will berelatively less sharp). This may allow the user to assess their positionin the real-world environment using the passthrough view, withoutgreatly detracting from the user's VR experience (thus minimizing thedisruption from the VR immersion and experience). Although thisdisclosure describes determining the speed of the movement of the userto determine the sharpness of the transition in a particular manner,this disclosure contemplates determining the speed of the movement ofthe user to determine the sharpness of the transition in any suitablemanner.

FIG. 6 illustrates a sample diagrammatic view of a user's vision 200.The user may have central vision 205, paracentral vision 210, macularvision 215, near peripheral vision 220, mid peripheral vision 225, andfar peripheral vision 230. As human peripheral vision may only be ableto detect high contrast movement, it may be advantageous to haveincreased sharpness at the user's peripheral visions, while maintainingdecreased sharpness (e.g., increased blurring or “feathering”) near thecenter of the field of view to minimize the disruption of the VRexperience. That is, for a headset field of view 235, a sharpness 245 ofa gradient 240 of the passthrough view may be increased at the user'speripheral visions (e.g., near peripheral vision 220, mid peripheralvision 225, and far peripheral vision 230) to allow more visibility ofthe real-world environment where only high contrast movement may bedetected. On the other hand, the sharpness 245 of the gradient 240 ofthe passthrough view may be decreased (e.g., by increasing the blur or“feathering” of the gradient 240) for the headset field of view 235 thatcorresponds to central vision 205, the paracentral vision 210, and themacular vision 215. Thus, the user may be able to detect visual objectsand obstructions in the real-world environment more easily at theirperipheral vision (e.g., their near peripheral vision 220, midperipheral vision 225, and far peripheral vision 230), with the benefitof decreasing the distraction of the passthrough view near their centralvision 205, paracentral vision 210, and macular vision 215. This mayprovide the user with more visual clarity of their surroundings withoutgreatly interrupting or disrupting the VR experience.

In particular embodiments, referring to FIGS. 2A-2D, 3A-3D, and 4A-4D,the rendered portion of the passthrough view 130 may correspond to thedirection of the movement 125 of the user. The location of the portionof the passthrough view 130 as displayed in the VR display device 135may correspond to the direction of movement 125 of the user. If the userwalks forward and straight, the portion of the passthrough view 130 mayappear straight ahead of the user, centered in the user's field of view120 and along the direction of movement 125. If the direction ofmovement 125 of the user is slightly forward and to the left, theportion of the passthrough view 130 as displayed in the VR displaydevice 135 may appear along that direction of movement 125—ahead of andslightly to the left of the center of the user's field of view 120. Asan example and not by way of limitation, the rendered portion of thepassthrough view 130 may be in the field of view 120 of the user whenthe direction of movement 125 of the user is determined to be toward thefield of view 120. As another example and not by way of limitation, therendered portion of the passthrough view 130 may be in a peripheral viewof the user when the direction of movement 125 is determined to beperpendicular to the field of view 120. That is, the field of view maybe to the left or the right of the user's field of view 120, in theuser's periphery. This may allow the user to use their peripheral viewto be alerted to potential obstacles or objects that may lie in theirpath. As another example and not by way of limitation, the renderedportion of the passthrough view 130 may be in peripheral view of andbehind the user when the direction of movement 125 is determined to beaway from the field of view 120. That is, when the user is walkingbackwards in a direction opposite of their field of view 120, theportion of the passthrough view 130 may cover both the left and rightsides of the user's peripheral view, as well as the portion behind theuser (beyond the user's field of view 120 and the user's peripheralview).

FIG. 7 illustrates a perspective view of the user in a boundary space175. The boundary space 175 may have a center 180 (which may, forexample, correspond to the center of a real-world room in the real-worldenvironment). The boundary space 175 may include a boundary 190 havingone or more threshold boundaries that the user may want to customize.For example, the user may customize the boundary space 175 to include astarting threshold boundary 185, and an end boundary 195. Depending onthe direction vector 155 of the user (e.g., as the user moves furtheraway from or closer to the center of the boundary space 175), thecomputing system 110 (not shown) of the camera 105 may display on the VRdisplay device 135 (not shown) the portion of the passthrough view withan increasing or decreasing size and sharpness. As an example, if theuser is at the starting boundary 185, the size of the portion of thepassthrough view may be relatively smaller than it may be if the userwas at the boundary 190. The sharpness of the portion of the passthroughview may be relatively less sharp at the starting boundary 185 than itmay be at the boundary 190. As another example, if the user is at theend boundary 195, the size of the portion of the passthrough view may berelatively larger than it may be if the user was at the boundary 190.The sharpness of the portion of the passthrough view may be relativelysharper at the end boundary 195 than it may be at the boundary 190.

FIG. 8 illustrates a perspective view of an outline rendering view of areal-world object 150 in the VR environment 140. Referring to FIGS. 1Cand 8 , in particular embodiments, the computing system 110 may render,for the one or more displays of the VR display device 135, a thirdoutput image comprising one or more real-world objects 145 beyond thevirtual boundary as the outline rendering view of the real-world object150, e.g., as one or more mixed reality (MR) objects. The outlinerendering view of the real-world object 150 may correspond to thereal-world object 145 that may lie beyond the virtual boundary 115. Theoutline rendered object may be rendered as an outline of the one or morereal-world objects 145, a semi-opaque rendering of the one or morereal-world objects 145, a fully opaque rendering of the one or morereal-world objects 145, or other similar rendering. The outline renderedobject may be used to alert the user to the presence of the one or morereal-world objects 145 by showing the user the outline rendering view ofthe real-world object 150, which may correspond to the pose of thereal-world object 145 in the real-world environment. That is, atechnical advantage of the embodiments may include providing spatialinformation by providing outline renderings of real-world objects in theVR environment to alert the user of objects that may lie in their pathwithout significantly disrupting the immersion of the VR experience.Thus, the user may be provided a safe and subtle alert or warning to thepresence of an obstacle without frustrating the user VR experience orbreaking the immersion. As an example and not by way of limitation, ifthe one or more real-world objects 145 (e.g., a desk) lies beyond thevirtual boundary 115 (as illustrated in FIG. 1C), then the one or morereal-world objects 145 may appear as an outline rendered object (e.g.,the MR object of the outline rendering view of the real-world object150) in in the user's VR display device 135. While in the VR environment140, the user may be able to see a “ghostly” semi-opaque outline of theobject 145 (e.g., a desk) without having to leave the VR environment140. The outline rendering view of the real-world object 150 may alertthe user to avoid the desk and continue on in the VR experience. Theoutline rendered object (e.g., the rendered outline of the desk) canfade into view and then fade away as the user walks away from the desk,for example, if the computing system determines the real-world object(e.g., the desk) does not pose a risk to the user. Thus, the computingsystem 110 may provide a solution to the technical challenge ofmaintaining the immersion of the VR experience while also providing theuser with the necessary visual information to orient themselves in thevirtual boundary. The solution presented herein may address thischallenge by rendering an opaque, translucent, or otherwise outlinerendered view of the real-world object 150 in the VR environment 140 toalert the user to the presence of the real-world object 145, withoutsignificantly interrupting the VR experience. Although this disclosuredescribes rendering a third output image in a particular manner, thisdisclosure contemplates rendering any suitable output image in anysuitable manner.

In particular embodiments, the computing system 110 may determinewhether the user is approaching within a second threshold distance ofthe virtual boundary 115. The second threshold distance may be greaterthan the first threshold distance. For example, if the first thresholddistance is 1 meter from the virtual boundary 115, the second thresholddistance may be 2 meters from the virtual boundary 115. Although thisdisclosure describes determining whether the user is approaching withina second threshold distance in a particular manner, this disclosurecontemplates determining whether the user is approaching within anythreshold distance in any suitable manner.

In particular embodiments, referring to FIGS. 1C, 2A-2D, and 8 , thecomputing system 110 may determine, responsive to the user approachingwithin the second threshold distance of the virtual boundary 115, thedirection of movement 125 and the field of view 120 of the user. Asdescribed above, the computing system 110 may determine the direction ofmovement 125 and the field of view 120 of the user using sensors,accelerometers, gyroscopes, or other position sensors of the camera 105and/or the VR display device 135 to determine the motion and orientationof the user wearing the camera 105 and/or the VR display device 135. Asan example and not by way of limitation, sensors may determine the useris moving forward (e.g., in the direction of movement 125 a) along thesame direction as their field of view 120 and approaching within thesecond threshold distance of the virtual boundary 115 (FIG. 2A). Asanother example and not by way of limitation, sensors may determine theuser is moving backward (e.g., in the direction of movement 125 b) inthe opposite direction as their field of view 120 and approaching withinthe second threshold distance of the virtual boundary 115 (FIG. 2B). Asanother example and not by way of limitation, sensors may determine theuser is moving sideways to the left (e.g., in the direction of movement125 c) and perpendicular to their field of view 120 and approachingwithin the second threshold distance of the virtual boundary 115 (FIG.2C). As another example and not by way of limitation, sensors maydetermine the user is moving sideways to the right (e.g., in thedirection of movement 125 d) and perpendicular to their field of view120 and approaching within the second threshold distance of the virtualboundary 115 (FIG. 2D). Although this disclosure describes determiningthe direction of movement 125 and the field of view 120 of the user in aparticular manner, this disclosure contemplates determining thedirection of movement and the field of view of the user in any suitablemanner.

In particular embodiments, the computing system 110 may access one ormore additional images of the real-world environment 100 containing theone or more real-world objects 145 captured by cameras 105 of the VRdisplay device 135. The third output image may have the one or morereal-world objects 145 in the accessed additional images. The computingsystem 110 may access one or more images of the real-world environment100 by taking a picture or snapshot (e.g., capturing an image) of theuser's real-world environment 100 using the camera 105. An objectdetection filter or an edge detection filter (e.g., a Sobel filter) maydetect the one or more real-world objects 145 in the vicinity of theuser's real-world environment 100. As an example and not by way oflimitation, the camera 105 may be used to detect the edges of the one ormore real-world objects 145, such as a desk, that is in the user'sreal-world environment 100. The third output image may then include thedesk that was captured by the camera 105. Although this disclosuredescribes accessing one or more additional images in a particularmanner, this disclosure contemplates accessing images in any suitablemanner.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example method 900 for determining spatialawareness in a VR setting using a passthrough view. The method may beginat step 910, where a computing system may include rendering for one ormore displays of a VR display device 135, a first output image of a VRenvironment based on a field of view of a user, wherein the VRenvironment comprises a virtual boundary corresponding to a real-worldenvironment. At step 920, the method may include determining whether theuser is approaching within a first threshold distance of the virtualboundary. At step 930, the method may include determining responsive tothe user approaching within the first threshold distance of the virtualboundary, a direction of movement and the field of view of the user. Atstep 940, the method may include accessing one or more images of thereal-world environment captured by one or more cameras of the VR displaydevice. At step 950, the method may include rendering, for the one ormore displays of the VR display device, a second output image comprisinga portion of the VR environment and a portion of a passthrough view ofthe real-world environment based on the accessed images, wherein theportion of the passthrough view is based on the determined direction ofmovement and the field of view of the user. Particular embodiments mayrepeat one or more steps of the method of FIG. 9 , where appropriate.Although this disclosure describes and illustrates particular steps ofthe method of FIG. 9 as occurring in a particular order, this disclosurecontemplates any suitable steps of the method of FIG. 9 occurring in anysuitable order. Moreover, although this disclosure describes andillustrates an example method for determining spatial awareness in a VRsetting using a passthrough view including the particular steps of themethod of FIG. 9 , this disclosure contemplates any suitable method fordetermining spatial awareness in a VR setting using a passthrough viewincluding any suitable steps, which may include all, some, or none ofthe steps of the method of FIG. 9 , where appropriate. Furthermore,although this disclosure describes and illustrates particularcomponents, devices, or systems carrying out particular steps of themethod of FIG. 9 , this disclosure contemplates any suitable combinationof any suitable components, devices, or systems carrying out anysuitable steps of the method of FIG. 9 .

FIG. 10 illustrates an example network environment 1000 associated witha VR or social-networking system. Network environment 1000 includes aclient system 1030, a VR or social-networking system 1060, and athird-party system 1070 connected to each other by a network 1010.Although FIG. 10 illustrates a particular arrangement of client system1030, VR or social-networking system 1060, third-party system 1070, andnetwork 1010, this disclosure contemplates any suitable arrangement ofclient system 1030, VR or social-networking system 1060, third-partysystem 1070, and network 1010. As an example and not by way oflimitation, two or more of client system 1030, VR or social-networkingsystem 1060, and third-party system 1070 may be connected to each otherdirectly, bypassing network 1010. As another example, two or more ofclient system 1030, VR or social-networking system 1060, and third-partysystem 1070 may be physically or logically co-located with each other inwhole or in part. Moreover, although FIG. 10 illustrates a particularnumber of client systems 1030, VR or social-networking systems 1060,third-party systems 1070, and networks 1010, this disclosurecontemplates any suitable number of client systems 1030, VR orsocial-networking systems 1060, third-party systems 1070, and networks1010. As an example and not by way of limitation, network environment1000 may include multiple client system 1030, VR or social-networkingsystems 1060, third-party systems 1070, and networks 1010.

This disclosure contemplates any suitable network 1010. As an exampleand not by way of limitation, one or more portions of network 1010 mayinclude an ad hoc network, an intranet, an extranet, a virtual privatenetwork (VPN), a local area network (LAN), a wireless LAN (WLAN), a widearea network (WAN), a wireless WAN (WWAN), a metropolitan area network(MAN), a portion of the Internet, a portion of the Public SwitchedTelephone Network (PSTN), a cellular telephone network, or a combinationof two or more of these. Network 1010 may include one or more networks1010.

Links 1050 may connect client system 1030, social-networking system1060, and third-party system 1070 to communication network 1010 or toeach other. This disclosure contemplates any suitable links 1050. Inparticular embodiments, one or more links 1050 include one or morewireline (such as for example Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) or Data OverCable Service Interface Specification (DOCSIS)), wireless (such as forexample Wi-Fi or Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access(WiMAX)), or optical (such as for example Synchronous Optical Network(SONET) or Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH)) links. In particularembodiments, one or more links 1050 each include an ad hoc network, anintranet, an extranet, a VPN, a LAN, a WLAN, a WAN, a WWAN, a MAN, aportion of the Internet, a portion of the PSTN, a cellulartechnology-based network, a satellite communications technology-basednetwork, another link 1050, or a combination of two or more such links1050. Links 1050 need not necessarily be the same throughout networkenvironment 1000. One or more first links 1050 may differ in one or morerespects from one or more second links 1050.

In particular embodiments, client system 1030 may be an electronicdevice including hardware, software, or embedded logic components or acombination of two or more such components and capable of carrying outthe appropriate functionalities implemented or supported by clientsystem 1030. As an example and not by way of limitation, a client system1030 may include a computer system such as a desktop computer, notebookor laptop computer, netbook, a tablet computer, e-book reader, GPSdevice, camera, personal digital assistant (PDA), handheld electronicdevice, cellular telephone, smartphone, augmented/virtual realitydevice, other suitable electronic device, or any suitable combinationthereof. This disclosure contemplates any suitable client systems 1030.A client system 1030 may enable a network user at client system 1030 toaccess network 1010. A client system 1030 may enable its user tocommunicate with other users at other client systems 1030.

In particular embodiments, client system 1030 (e.g., an HMD) may includea passthrough engine 1032 to provide the passthrough feature describedherein, and may have one or more add-ons, plug-ins, or other extensions.A user at client system 1030 may connect to a particular server (such asserver 1062, or a server associated with a third-party system 1070). Theserver may accept the request and communicate with the client system1030.

In particular embodiments, VR or social-networking system 1060 may be anetwork-addressable computing system that can host an online VirtualReality environment or social network. VR or social-networking system1060 may generate, store, receive, and send social-networking data, suchas, for example, user-profile data, concept-profile data, social-graphinformation, or other suitable data related to the online socialnetwork. Social-networking or VR system 1060 may be accessed by theother components of network environment 1000 either directly or vianetwork 1010. As an example and not by way of limitation, client system1030 may access social-networking or VR system 1060 using a web browser,or a native application associated with social-networking or VR system1060 (e.g., a mobile social-networking application, a messagingapplication, another suitable application, or any combination thereof)either directly or via network 1010. In particular embodiments,social-networking or VR system 1060 may include one or more servers1062. Each server 1062 may be a unitary server or a distributed serverspanning multiple computers or multiple datacenters. Servers 1062 may beof various types, such as, for example and without limitation, webserver, news server, mail server, message server, advertising server,file server, application server, exchange server, database server, proxyserver, another server suitable for performing functions or processesdescribed herein, or any combination thereof. In particular embodiments,each server 1062 may include hardware, software, or embedded logiccomponents or a combination of two or more such components for carryingout the appropriate functionalities implemented or supported by server1062. In particular embodiments, social-networking or VR system 1060 mayinclude one or more data stores 1064. Data stores 1064 may be used tostore various types of information. In particular embodiments, theinformation stored in data stores 1064 may be organized according tospecific data structures. In particular embodiments, each data store1064 may be a relational, columnar, correlation, or other suitabledatabase. Although this disclosure describes or illustrates particulartypes of databases, this disclosure contemplates any suitable types ofdatabases. Particular embodiments may provide interfaces that enable aclient system 1030, a social-networking or VR system 1060, or athird-party system 1070 to manage, retrieve, modify, add, or delete, theinformation stored in data store 1064.

In particular embodiments, social-networking or VR system 1060 may storeone or more social graphs in one or more data stores 1064. In particularembodiments, a social graph may include multiple nodes—which may includemultiple user nodes (each corresponding to a particular user) ormultiple concept nodes (each corresponding to a particular concept)—andmultiple edges connecting the nodes. Social-networking or VR system 1060may provide users of the online social network the ability tocommunicate and interact with other users. In particular embodiments,users may join the online social network via social-networking or VRsystem 1060 and then add connections (e.g., relationships) to a numberof other users of social-networking or VR system 1060 to whom they wantto be connected. Herein, the term “friend” may refer to any other userof social-networking or VR system 1060 with whom a user has formed aconnection, association, or relationship via social-networking or VRsystem 1060.

In particular embodiments, social-networking or VR system 1060 mayprovide users with the ability to take actions on various types of itemsor objects, supported by social-networking or VR system 1060. As anexample and not by way of limitation, the items and objects may includegroups or social networks to which users of social-networking or VRsystem 1060 may belong, events or calendar entries in which a user mightbe interested, computer-based applications that a user may use,transactions that allow users to buy or sell items via the service,interactions with advertisements that a user may perform, or othersuitable items or objects. A user may interact with anything that iscapable of being represented in social-networking or VR system 1060 orby an external system of third-party system 1070, which is separate fromsocial-networking or VR system 1060 and coupled to social-networking orVR system 1060 via a network 1010.

In particular embodiments, social-networking or VR system 1060 may becapable of linking a variety of entities. As an example and not by wayof limitation, social-networking or VR system 1060 may enable users tointeract with each other as well as receive content from third-partysystems 1070 or other entities, or to allow users to interact with theseentities through an application programming interfaces (API) or othercommunication channels.

In particular embodiments, a third-party system 1070 may include one ormore types of servers, one or more data stores, one or more interfaces,including but not limited to APIs, one or more web services, one or morecontent sources, one or more networks, or any other suitable components,e.g., that servers may communicate with. A third-party system 1070 maybe operated by a different entity from an entity operatingsocial-networking or VR system 1060. In particular embodiments, however,social-networking or VR system 1060 and third-party systems 1070 mayoperate in conjunction with each other to provide social-networkingservices to users of social-networking or VR system 1060 or third-partysystems 1070. In this sense, social-networking or VR system 1060 mayprovide a platform, or backbone, which other systems, such asthird-party systems 1070, may use to provide social-networking servicesand functionality to users across the Internet.

In particular embodiments, a third-party system 1070 may include athird-party content object provider. A third-party content objectprovider may include one or more sources of content objects, which maybe communicated to a client system 1030. As an example and not by way oflimitation, content objects may include information regarding things oractivities of interest to the user, such as, for example, movie showtimes, movie reviews, restaurant reviews, restaurant menus, productinformation and reviews, or other suitable information. As anotherexample and not by way of limitation, content objects may includeincentive content objects, such as coupons, discount tickets, giftcertificates, or other suitable incentive objects.

In particular embodiments, social-networking or VR system 1060 alsoincludes user-generated content objects, which may enhance a user'sinteractions with social-networking or VR system 1060. User-generatedcontent may include anything a user can add, upload, send, or “post” tosocial-networking or VR system 1060. As an example and not by way oflimitation, a user communicates posts to social-networking or VR system1060 from a client system 1030. Posts may include data such as statusupdates or other textual data, location information, photos, videos,links, music or other similar data or media. Content may also be addedto social-networking or VR system 1060 by a third-party through a“communication channel,” such as a newsfeed or stream.

In particular embodiments, social-networking or VR system 1060 mayinclude a variety of servers, sub-systems, programs, modules, logs, anddata stores. In particular embodiments, social-networking or VR system1060 may include one or more of the following: a web server, actionlogger, API-request server, relevance-and-ranking engine, content-objectclassifier, notification controller, action log,third-party-content-object-exposure log, inference module,authorization/privacy server, search module, advertisement-targetingmodule, user-interface module, user-profile store, connection store,third-party content store, or location store. Social-networking or VRsystem 1060 may also include suitable components such as networkinterfaces, security mechanisms, load balancers, failover servers,management-and-network-operations consoles, other suitable components,or any suitable combination thereof. In particular embodiments,social-networking or VR system 1060 may include one or more user-profilestores for storing user profiles. A user profile may include, forexample, biographic information, demographic information, behavioralinformation, social information, or other types of descriptiveinformation, such as work experience, educational history, hobbies orpreferences, interests, affinities, or location. Interest informationmay include interests related to one or more categories. Categories maybe general or specific. As an example and not by way of limitation, if auser “likes” an article about a brand of shoes the category may be thebrand, or the general category of “shoes” or “clothing.” A connectionstore may be used for storing connection information about users. Theconnection information may indicate users who have similar or commonwork experience, group memberships, hobbies, educational history, or arein any way related or share common attributes. The connectioninformation may also include user-defined connections between differentusers and content (both internal and external). A web server may be usedfor linking social-networking or VR system 1060 to one or more clientsystems 1030 or one or more third-party system 1070 via network 1010.The web server may include a mail server or other messagingfunctionality for receiving and routing messages betweensocial-networking or VR system 1060 and one or more client systems 1030.An API-request server may allow a third-party system 1070 to accessinformation from social-networking or VR system 1060 by calling one ormore APIs. An action logger may be used to receive communications from aweb server about a user's actions on or off social-networking or VRsystem 1060. In conjunction with the action log, a third-partycontent-object log may be maintained of user exposures to third-partycontent objects. A notification controller may provide informationregarding content objects to a client system 1030. Information may bepushed to a client system 1030 as notifications, or information may bepulled from client system 1030 responsive to a request received fromclient system 1030. Authorization servers may be used to enforce one ormore privacy settings of the users of social-networking or VR system1060. A privacy setting of a user determines how particular informationassociated with a user may be shared. The authorization server may allowusers to opt in to or opt out of having their actions logged bysocial-networking or VR system 1060 or shared with other systems (e.g.,third-party system 1070), such as, for example, by setting appropriateprivacy settings. Third-party content-object stores may be used to storecontent objects received from third parties, such as a third-partysystem 1070. Location stores may be used for storing locationinformation received from client systems 1030 associated with users.Advertisement-pricing modules may combine social information, thecurrent time, location information, or other suitable information toprovide relevant advertisements, in the form of notifications, to auser.

FIG. 11 illustrates an example computer system 1100. In particularembodiments, one or more computer systems 1100 perform one or more stepsof one or more methods described or illustrated herein. In particularembodiments, one or more computer systems 1100 provide functionalitydescribed or illustrated herein. In particular embodiments, softwarerunning on one or more computer systems 1100 performs one or more stepsof one or more methods described or illustrated herein or providesfunctionality described or illustrated herein. Particular embodimentsinclude one or more portions of one or more computer systems 1100.Herein, reference to a computer system may encompass a computing device,and vice versa, where appropriate. Moreover, reference to a computersystem may encompass one or more computer systems, where appropriate.

This disclosure contemplates any suitable number of computer systems1100. This disclosure contemplates computer system 1100 taking anysuitable physical form. As example and not by way of limitation,computer system 1100 may be an embedded computer system, asystem-on-chip (SOC), a single-board computer system (SBC) (such as, forexample, a computer-on-module (COM) or system-on-module (SOM)), adesktop computer system, a laptop or notebook computer system, aninteractive kiosk, a mainframe, a mesh of computer systems, a mobiletelephone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a server, a tabletcomputer system, an augmented/virtual reality device, or a combinationof two or more of these. Where appropriate, computer system 1100 mayinclude one or more computer systems 1100; be unitary or distributed;span multiple locations; span multiple machines; span multiple datacenters; or reside in a cloud, which may include one or more cloudcomponents in one or more networks. Where appropriate, one or morecomputer systems 1100 may perform without substantial spatial ortemporal limitation one or more steps of one or more methods describedor illustrated herein. As an example and not by way of limitation, oneor more computer systems 1100 may perform in real time or in batch modeone or more steps of one or more methods described or illustratedherein. One or more computer systems 1100 may perform at different timesor at different locations one or more steps of one or more methodsdescribed or illustrated herein, where appropriate.

In particular embodiments, computer system 1100 includes a processor1102, memory 1104, storage 1106, an input/output (I/O) interface 1108, acommunication interface 1110, and a bus 1112. Although this disclosuredescribes and illustrates a particular computer system having aparticular number of particular components in a particular arrangement,this disclosure contemplates any suitable computer system having anysuitable number of any suitable components in any suitable arrangement.

In particular embodiments, processor 1102 includes hardware forexecuting instructions, such as those making up a computer program. Asan example and not by way of limitation, to execute instructions,processor 1102 may retrieve (or fetch) the instructions from an internalregister, an internal cache, memory 1104, or storage 1106; decode andexecute them; and then write one or more results to an internalregister, an internal cache, memory 1104, or storage 1106. In particularembodiments, processor 1102 may include one or more internal caches fordata, instructions, or addresses. This disclosure contemplates processor1102 including any suitable number of any suitable internal caches,where appropriate. As an example and not by way of limitation, processor1102 may include one or more instruction caches, one or more datacaches, and one or more translation lookaside buffers (TLBs).Instructions in the instruction caches may be copies of instructions inmemory 1104 or storage 1106, and the instruction caches may speed upretrieval of those instructions by processor 1102. Data in the datacaches may be copies of data in memory 1104 or storage 1106 forinstructions executing at processor 1102 to operate on; the results ofprevious instructions executed at processor 1102 for access bysubsequent instructions executing at processor 1102 or for writing tomemory 1104 or storage 1106; or other suitable data. The data caches mayspeed up read or write operations by processor 1102. The TLBs may speedup virtual-address translation for processor 1102. In particularembodiments, processor 1102 may include one or more internal registersfor data, instructions, or addresses. This disclosure contemplatesprocessor 1102 including any suitable number of any suitable internalregisters, where appropriate. Where appropriate, processor 1102 mayinclude one or more arithmetic logic units (ALUs); be a multi-coreprocessor; or include one or more processors 1102. Although thisdisclosure describes and illustrates a particular processor, thisdisclosure contemplates any suitable processor.

In particular embodiments, memory 1104 includes main memory for storinginstructions for processor 1102 to execute or data for processor 1102 tooperate on. As an example and not by way of limitation, computer system1100 may load instructions from storage 1106 or another source (such as,for example, another computer system 1100) to memory 1104. Processor 602may then load the instructions from memory 604 to an internal registeror internal cache. To execute the instructions, processor 602 mayretrieve the instructions from the internal register or internal cacheand decode them. During or after execution of the instructions,processor 602 may write one or more results (which may be intermediateor final results) to the internal register or internal cache. Processor602 may then write one or more of those results to memory 604. Inparticular embodiments, processor 602 executes only instructions in oneor more internal registers or internal caches or in memory 1104 (asopposed to storage 1106 or elsewhere) and operates only on data in oneor more internal registers or internal caches or in memory 1104 (asopposed to storage 1106 or elsewhere). One or more memory buses (whichmay each include an address bus and a data bus) may couple processor1102 to memory 1104. Bus 1112 may include one or more memory buses, asdescribed below. In particular embodiments, one or more memorymanagement units (MMUs) reside between processor 1102 and memory 1104and facilitate accesses to memory 1104 requested by processor 1102. Inparticular embodiments, memory 1104 includes random access memory (RAM).This RAM may be volatile memory, where appropriate. Where appropriate,this RAM may be dynamic RAM (DRAM) or static RAM (SRAM). Moreover, whereappropriate, this RAM may be single-ported or multi-ported RAM. Thisdisclosure contemplates any suitable RAM. Memory 1104 may include one ormore memories 1104, where appropriate. Although this disclosuredescribes and illustrates particular memory, this disclosurecontemplates any suitable memory.

In particular embodiments, storage 1106 includes mass storage for dataor instructions. As an example and not by way of limitation, storage1106 may include a hard disk drive (HDD), a floppy disk drive, flashmemory, an optical disc, a magneto-optical disc, magnetic tape, or aUniversal Serial Bus (USB) drive or a combination of two or more ofthese. Storage 1106 may include removable or non-removable (or fixed)media, where appropriate. Storage 1106 may be internal or external tocomputer system 1100, where appropriate. In particular embodiments,storage 1106 is non-volatile, solid-state memory. In particularembodiments, storage 1106 includes read-only memory (ROM). Whereappropriate, this ROM may be mask-programmed ROM, programmable ROM(PROM), erasable PROM (EPROM), electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM),electrically alterable ROM (EAROM), or flash memory or a combination oftwo or more of these. This disclosure contemplates mass storage 1106taking any suitable physical form. Storage 1106 may include one or morestorage control units facilitating communication between processor 1102and storage 1106, where appropriate. Where appropriate, storage 1106 mayinclude one or more storages 1106. Although this disclosure describesand illustrates particular storage, this disclosure contemplates anysuitable storage.

In particular embodiments, I/O interface 1108 includes hardware,software, or both, providing one or more interfaces for communicationbetween computer system 1100 and one or more I/O devices. Computersystem 1100 may include one or more of these I/O devices, whereappropriate. One or more of these I/O devices may enable communicationbetween a person and computer system 1100. As an example and not by wayof limitation, an I/O device may include a keyboard, keypad, microphone,monitor, mouse, printer, scanner, speaker, still camera, stylus, tablet,touch screen, trackball, video camera, another suitable I/O device or acombination of two or more of these. An I/O device may include one ormore sensors. This disclosure contemplates any suitable I/O devices andany suitable I/O interfaces 1108 for them. Where appropriate, I/Ointerface 1108 may include one or more device or software driversenabling processor 1102 to drive one or more of these I/O devices. I/Ointerface 1108 may include one or more I/O interfaces 1108, whereappropriate. Although this disclosure describes and illustrates aparticular I/O interface, this disclosure contemplates any suitable I/Ointerface.

In particular embodiments, communication interface 1110 includeshardware, software, or both providing one or more interfaces forcommunication (such as, for example, packet-based communication) betweencomputer system 1100 and one or more other computer systems 1100 or oneor more networks. As an example and not by way of limitation,communication interface 1110 may include a network interface controller(NIC) or network adapter for communicating with an Ethernet or otherwire-based network or a wireless NIC (WNIC) or wireless adapter forcommunicating with a wireless network, such as a WI-FI network. Thisdisclosure contemplates any suitable network and any suitablecommunication interface 1110 for it. As an example and not by way oflimitation, computer system 1100 may communicate with an ad hoc network,a personal area network (PAN), a local area network (LAN), a wide areanetwork (WAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), or one or moreportions of the Internet or a combination of two or more of these. Oneor more portions of one or more of these networks may be wired orwireless. As an example, computer system 1100 may communicate with awireless PAN (WPAN) (such as, for example, a BLUETOOTH WPAN), a WI-FInetwork, a WI-MAX network, a cellular telephone network (such as, forexample, a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) network), orother suitable wireless network or a combination of two or more ofthese. Computer system 1100 may include any suitable communicationinterface 1110 for any of these networks, where appropriate.Communication interface 1110 may include one or more communicationinterfaces 1110, where appropriate. Although this disclosure describesand illustrates a particular communication interface, this disclosurecontemplates any suitable communication interface.

In particular embodiments, bus 1112 includes hardware, software, or bothcoupling components of computer system 1100 to each other. As an exampleand not by way of limitation, bus 1112 may include an AcceleratedGraphics Port (AGP) or other graphics bus, an Enhanced Industry StandardArchitecture (EISA) bus, a front-side bus (FSB), a HYPERTRANSPORT (HT)interconnect, an Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus, an INFINIBANDinterconnect, a low-pin-count (LPC) bus, a memory bus, a Micro ChannelArchitecture (MCA) bus, a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus, aPCI-Express (PCIe) bus, a serial advanced technology attachment (SATA)bus, a Video Electronics Standards Association local (VLB) bus, oranother suitable bus or a combination of two or more of these. Bus 1112may include one or more buses 1112, where appropriate. Although thisdisclosure describes and illustrates a particular bus, this disclosurecontemplates any suitable bus or interconnect.

Herein, a computer-readable non-transitory storage medium or media mayinclude one or more semiconductor-based or other integrated circuits(ICs) (such, as for example, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) orapplication-specific ICs (ASICs)), hard disk drives (HDDs), hybrid harddrives (HHDs), optical discs, optical disc drives (ODDs),magneto-optical discs, magneto-optical drives, floppy diskettes, floppydisk drives (FDDs), magnetic tapes, solid-state drives (SSDs),RAM-drives, SECURE DIGITAL cards or drives, any other suitablecomputer-readable non-transitory storage media, or any suitablecombination of two or more of these, where appropriate. Acomputer-readable non-transitory storage medium may be volatile,non-volatile, or a combination of volatile and non-volatile, whereappropriate.

Herein, “or” is inclusive and not exclusive, unless expressly indicatedotherwise or indicated otherwise by context. Therefore, herein, “A or B”means “A, B, or both,” unless expressly indicated otherwise or indicatedotherwise by context. Moreover, “and” is both joint and several, unlessexpressly indicated otherwise or indicated otherwise by context.Therefore, herein, “A and B” means “A and B, jointly or severally,”unless expressly indicated otherwise or indicated otherwise by context.

The scope of this disclosure encompasses all changes, substitutions,variations, alterations, and modifications to the example embodimentsdescribed or illustrated herein that a person having ordinary skill inthe art would comprehend. The scope of this disclosure is not limited tothe example embodiments described or illustrated herein. Moreover,although this disclosure describes and illustrates respectiveembodiments herein as including particular components, elements,feature, functions, operations, or steps, any of these embodiments mayinclude any combination or permutation of any of the components,elements, features, functions, operations, or steps described orillustrated anywhere herein that a person having ordinary skill in theart would comprehend. Furthermore, reference in the appended claims toan apparatus or system or a component of an apparatus or system beingadapted to, arranged to, capable of, configured to, enabled to, operableto, or operative to perform a particular function encompasses thatapparatus, system, component, whether or not it or that particularfunction is activated, turned on, or unlocked, as long as thatapparatus, system, or component is so adapted, arranged, capable,configured, enabled, operable, or operative. Additionally, although thisdisclosure describes or illustrates particular embodiments as providingparticular advantages, particular embodiments may provide none, some, orall of these advantages.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising, by one or more computingsystems: rendering, for a virtual reality (VR) display device and basedon a field of view of a user, a first output image of a VR environmentcomprising a virtual boundary corresponding to a real-world environment;determining, responsive to the user approaching within a first thresholddistance of the virtual boundary, a speed of movement and the field ofview of the user; accessing one or more images of the real-worldenvironment captured by one or more cameras of the VR display device;and rendering, for the VR display device, a second output imagecomprising a portion of the VR environment and a portion of apassthrough view of the real-world environment based on the accessedimages, wherein an area of the portion of the passthrough view is basedon the determined speed of movement and the field of view of the user.2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: rendering, for the one ormore displays of the VR display device, a third output image comprisingone or more real-world objects beyond the virtual boundary as one ormore mixed reality (MR) objects.
 3. The method of claim 2, furthercomprising: determining whether the user is approaching within a secondthreshold distance of the virtual boundary, wherein the second thresholddistance is greater than the first threshold distance; determining,responsive to the user approaching within the second threshold distanceof the virtual boundary, a direction of movement and the field of viewof the user; and accessing one or more additional images of thereal-world environment containing the one or more real-world objectscaptured by cameras of the VR display device; wherein the third outputimage comprises the one or more real-world objects in the accessedadditional images.
 4. The method of claim 2, wherein the one or more MRobjects are rendered as an outline of the one or more objects, asemi-opaque rendering of the one or more objects, or a fully opaquerendering of the one or more objects.
 5. The method of claim 1, whereinthe area of the portion of the passthrough view is based on thedetermined speed of the user, wherein the portion is a spherical cap ofa spherical second output image.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein thearea of the portion of the passthrough view is relatively larger for afaster determined speed of the movement of the user, and wherein thearea of the portion of the passthrough view is relatively smaller for aslower determined speed of the movement of the user.
 7. The method ofclaim 1, wherein a sharpness of a transition from the VR environment tothe portion of the passthrough view is based on the determined speed ofthe movement of the user, wherein the transition is a fade from the VRenvironment into the portion of the passthrough view.
 8. The method ofclaim 7, wherein the sharpness of the transition from the VR environmentto the portion of the passthrough view is relatively sharper for afaster determined speed of the movement of the user, and wherein thesharpness of the transition from the VR environment to the portion ofthe passthrough view is relatively less sharp for a slower determinedspeed of the movement of the user.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein therendered portion of the passthrough view corresponds to the direction ofmovement of the user.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the renderedportion of the passthrough view is in the field of view of the user whenthe direction of movement of the user is determined to be toward thefield of view.
 11. The method of claim 9, wherein the rendered portionof the passthrough view is in a peripheral view of the user when thedirection of movement is determined to be perpendicular to the field ofview.
 12. The method of claim 9, wherein the rendered portion of thepassthrough view is in a peripheral view of and behind the user when thedirection of movement is determined to be away from the field of view.13. One or more computer-readable non-transitory storage media embodyingsoftware that is operable when executed to: render, for a virtualreality (VR) display device and based on a field of view of a user, afirst output image of a VR environment comprising a virtual boundarycorresponding to a real-world environment; determine, responsive to theuser approaching within a first threshold distance of the virtualboundary, a speed of movement and the field of view of the user; accessone or more images of the real-world environment captured by one or morecameras of the VR display device; and render, for the VR display device,a second output image comprising a portion of the VR environment and aportion of a passthrough view of the real-world environment based on theaccessed images, wherein an area of the portion of the passthrough viewis based on the determined speed of movement and the field of view ofthe user.
 14. The media of claim 13, wherein the software is furtheroperable when executed to: render, for the one or more displays of theVR display device, a third output image comprising one or morereal-world objects beyond the virtual boundary as one or more mixedreality (MR) objects.
 15. The media of claim 14, wherein the software isfurther operable when executed to: determine whether the user isapproaching within a second threshold distance of the virtual boundary,wherein the second threshold distance is greater than the firstthreshold distance; determine, responsive to the user approaching withinthe second threshold distance of the virtual boundary, a direction ofmovement and the field of view of the user; and access one or moreadditional images of the real-world environment containing the one ormore real-world objects captured by cameras of the VR display device;wherein the third output image comprises the one or more real-worldobjects in the accessed additional images.
 16. The media of claim 14,wherein the one or more MR objects are rendered as an outline of the oneor more objects, a semi-opaque rendering of the one or more objects, ora fully opaque rendering of the one or more objects.
 17. The media ofclaim 13, wherein the area of the portion of the passthrough view isbased on the determined speed of the user, wherein the portion is aspherical cap of a spherical second output image.
 18. The media of claim17, wherein the area of the portion of the passthrough view isrelatively larger for a faster determined speed of the movement of theuser, and wherein the area of the portion of the passthrough view isrelatively smaller for a slower determined speed of the movement of theuser.
 19. The media of claim 13, wherein the software is furtheroperable when executed to: determining a speed of the movement of theuser, wherein a sharpness of a transition from the VR environment to theportion of the passthrough view is based on the determined speed of themovement of the user, wherein the transition is a fade from the VRenvironment into the portion of the passthrough view.
 20. A systemcomprising: one or more processors; and a non-transitory memory coupledto the processors comprising instructions executable by the processors,the processors operable when executing the instructions to: render, fora virtual reality (VR) display device and based on a field of view of auser, a first output image of a VR environment comprising a virtualboundary corresponding to a real-world environment; determine,responsive to the user approaching within a first threshold distance ofthe virtual boundary, a speed of movement and the field of view of theuser; access one or more images of the real-world environment capturedby one or more cameras of the VR display device; and render, for the VRdisplay device, a second output image comprising a portion of the VRenvironment and a portion of a passthrough view of the real-worldenvironment based on the accessed images, wherein an area of the portionof the passthrough view is based on the determined speed of movement andthe field of view of the user.